Not So Simple Goodbyes
by Indigo44
Summary: Link is going home but he can't leave without telling Tetra how he feels. Unknown to him, she feels the same. Will either of them be brave enough to tell the other? LinkxTetra
1. Chapter 1: One Last Goodbye

Disclaimer: I do not own Zelda or its characters.

**Not So Simple Good-byes**

Link lazily opened his eyes. He never liked getting up in the morning, heck, who did? Normally his life with the pirates required him to get up early, but that wasn't quite the case today. The crew had decided to let him sleep in for the last few days he was with them. The pirate ship was on course for Outset Island, Link's home. Tomorrow he would be home; free to live the life he was supposed to.

Link slowly rose to a sitting position and turned so his legs dangled off the side of the bed. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and jumped off his bed to get some clean clothes. He found his typical green tunic, hat, and white pants and put them on. He looked at himself in the mirror, attempting to fix his constantly messy hair with little success. He had grown a few inches since he had originally left his home, his muscles were more toned and the expression on his face made him look mature.

"Well, might as well start now." Link said to himself. He planned to say good-bye to each member of the crew. All of them had grown to like him and eventually they considered themselves to be a sort of family. Link knew this was going to be hard, especially saying good-bye to the golden haired captain. Link had had a crush on Tetra for a while now but just recently his feelings for her had grown to be something…more.

When the two of them fought Ganon atop Hyrule Castle Link had protected her from his attacks, as much as she protected him. Link felt so much care and affection for the girl that he couldn't get her off his mind, ever. Whenever he saw her his knees would grow weak and he would have a hard time coming up with words to say. He hoped that she didn't think he was a stupid kid anymore like she had when they first met. However, whenever he thought about his feelings for her he always wondered what exactly they were. He had heard about love before, and he didn't know for sure if that's what he was feeling or not. Wasn't this supposed to be easy? It definitely wasn't easy or getting easier for the young hero.

Link decided to say his good-byes to everyone else before he saw Tetra. He wanted to have all other pressures off his chest before he went to see her.

He left his room and walked to the deck. There began the many conversations that consumed the hours of the day. Each person seemed to have something different to tell him. Each of them said good-bye in a different way, such as hugging, shaking hands, or just a simple farewell. It took around three hours before Link was finished, and when he realized he had talked to everyone besides Tetra, he began to sweat.

He hadn't seen her all day, which always meant she had locked herself in her room usually lost in some project of some sort. Link walked slowly to her room, each step making him more nervous than the next. He could hear his heart beating in his ears. He felt sick. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, it could wait till tomorrow. No, no, it had to happen now.

Before he knew it he was standing in front of her door. He took a deep breath. _"This is it."_ He thought to himself. Slowly he raised his hand to eye level before knocked twice on the door. He didn't have to wait long before he heard her faint voice on the other side say, "Come in."

Link opened the door and closed it behind him. When he turned around to look in the room he saw Tetra sitting at her desk, she didn't seem to be doing anything though, she was just sitting there. She looked up at him with her intimidating stare. She didn't look at him long before looking back down at her desk. "Have you finished you duties?"

"Yeah, I said good-bye to everyone." Link said. Tetra looked at him again with a look that said, "That's not what I mean."

"Have you done your duties as in, cleaning, helping to move the new cargo, stuff like that. The things you do everyday." Tetra explained seeming to be a bit flustered. Link looked back at her confused. They hadn't assigned him anything today, they hadn't for a while because he was leaving.

"You…you didn't give me anything to do. I was told that since I was leaving I didn't have to…" Link explained. Tetra interrupted him before he could finish.

"You didn't have to work?" Tetra asked even more anger than she was before. She stood up and walked over to her window. She looked out at the sea with her back to him. "You always work as long as you are on my ship; I made that clear to you on the first day you were here."

Link hadn't expected this attitude from Tetra; he thought that she would be happy to talk to him since he wasn't going to be here anymore. "What's gotten into you? I thought you would want to say good-bye to me."

Tetra turned to look at him. "Oh, well that's nice. Good-bye then." She said sarcastically.

"Tetra, come on, why are you acting like this?" Link asked.

"Why am I acting like this? How would you feel if your best friend wanted to leave and forget everything you've been through?"

"Tetra we knew this was going to happen. I don't belong on a pirate ship, I'm not pirate material."

"I can't believe that after finding Hyrule, after killing Ganon, you don't care and want to go home and pretend it was all a dream."

"You know that's not true!" Link exclaimed.

"Then tell me what is true." Tetra said.

"The truth is that I have a family on Outset, I want to be with them. But you wouldn't understand that because you don't have a family!" Link shouted. He stopped suddenly before he realized what he had said. He looked at Tetra, expecting her to explode with rage. But instead her expression went blank as she turned around to look out her window again.

"Get out." She ordered. Her voice wasn't very loud but Link could still hear it. He didn't move.

"Tetra, that's not what I meant…" Link tried to explain. Tetra didn't seem to hear him or she just ignored his comment.

"Get out!" She commanded this time yelling. Link didn't know what do, so he obeyed her. He turned around slowly and opened the door. Outside he saw a group of crew members that had gathered on the other side, trying to listen to their conversation. Link ignored them and closed the door behind him. He walked back to his room and lay on his bed, face down.

He lay there wondering how this day had become so wrong.

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Link didn't know if he had fallen asleep or just lay there for a long time, when he reopened his eyes and looked out the window he saw the sky was dark and the moon had risen. It was around this time that the crew went below deck to drink and tell stories. This was good, that meant he could be alone up on deck.

He got off his bed and walked up the stairs leading to the deck. He opened the door and saw no one was out there. He walked to the side of the ship and looked down at the water. It always calmed him to look at the waves and spray of the ocean. It helped him think.

Link remembered once when Tetra and him were out here alone. They had talked about their lives, about Hyrule, about pretty much everything. They had stayed there talking all the way until the sun rose above the horizon. Tetra had given him the day off that day because she knew he was tired.

Remembering that caused the boy to wonder why Tetra flipped out a few hours before. He didn't think she was angry because he hadn't done any work, but he was confused all the same. They had talked before about Link eventually having to leave, both of them were gloomy about the subject, but never had either of them yelled at each other.

He was so confused. He wanted to make up with her. But she probably wouldn't open her door for him now.

Suddenly Link heard a noise behind him. He whirled around to see who had come up on deck. He saw Tetra standing there looking at him. She was about to go back the way she came when Link stopped her.

"Wait! Please, let's talk about this." Link pleaded. Surprisingly Tetra paused and looked back at him. She shut the door leading to below deck and leaned against the door with her arms crossed. She looked at him expectantly. Link slowly walked towards her. "Tetra you're my friend, I can't leave with us on a bad note." Tetra lowered her head. "What can I do to make you happy?"

Tetra thought about it there was only one thing that she wanted. It was him. She was trying to put on her normal hard shell so that she wouldn't be bothered with his departing but obviously it did little help. She didn't want him to go. She wanted him stay here with her so that she could tell him her feelings and possibly they could live happily together in each other's arms. But he had already made his decision, he was going and she wasn't going to get the chance to tell him. She didn't think he liked her that way anyway.

She looked up at him. "There's nothing. Tomorrow you're going home. I hope you find what you're looking for." She said flatly. She turned and opened the door again preparing to leave.

"But Tetra…" Link said trying to stop her.

"I hope you'll be happy." Then Tetra was gone. Link watched the door close. He felt his heart shatter, he couldn't move. He had missed his chance to tell her how he felt. He felt a single tear roll down his left cheek, but he didn't care. Regardless of what Tetra said he knew that as long as he didn't tell her he wouldn't be happy.


	2. Chapter 2: Three Things You Should Know

Part 2

The sun seemed to rise with abnormal haste. Link wondered if time was mocking him. He wanted to spend as much time on the pirate ship as he could, but at the same time he wanted to be back in his own bed, eating his grandmother's cooking, resting on the beach with his sister until the day came to an end. He felt pulled in two directions. One to stay with Tetra, and one to leave.

He didn't know if Tetra meant what she had said the night before. He thought it likely that there was something that he could do to make her feel happier, but knowing how stubborn she was, he was probably never going to find out.

Link walked up on deck when he had gotten dressed and saw Outset in the distance. He sighed. He had not gotten to tell Tetra his feelings and no one had seen her come out of her room. He guessed that that was going to be the way it was when he left. He wouldn't even be able to say good-bye to her.

Then Link thought of an idea. Without hesitation he rushed back downstairs, knocking into a few people along the way, and ran into his room. He searched through his packed bags until he found a piece of paper and a quill with ink. He sat down on the wooden floor and began to write.

If he couldn't speak to her in person, this would have to do.

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Tetra heard the commotion rise up on deck. She guessed that they had reached Outset Island. She listened intently, trying to hear Link's voice. There were too many sounds going on at once it was, impossible to tell if he was one of the many who were talking. She knew that the crew was probably shouting all of their last minute farewells to him.

Suddenly she rose from her bed that she had not cared to get out of before, and looked out of the window facing Outset. She was just in time to see a small figure in green walk towards the village and into one of the houses. Then there was the sound of the gong and she knew they were back on their way.

He was gone.

She sat there for several minutes before moving. She couldn't exactly pick out what she was feeling. All she knew was that it didn't feel good. She felt angry at him for leaving, miserable that they couldn't be together, guilty for not telling him. . .

Wait…guilt? Tetra never felt guilty about anything! But she knew that she did. That was the worst feeling to feel, in her opinion.

But she couldn't sit in her room feeling culpable, she had to go up and tell the crew where to head next. That was always the best outlet for misery, ordering her men.

Tetra quickly got dressed and pulled her hair into a bun like always. She opened the door to head for the deck when her eyes caught a glimpse of something. On the floor just outside her door was a folded piece of paper. Her heart skipped a beat. Could it be? No…no! Why in the world would he leave a message behind?

She leaned down and picked up the paper. She withdrew back to her room and shut the door behind her. While walking over to her desk and taking a seat she opened the letter. Immediately she recognized Link's signature at the bottom and her heart seemed to stop. With shaking hands she placed the letter on the desk and read it.

_Dear Tetra,_

_There are no words that seem to be adequate…but there are three things that I think you should know. I'm sorry I wasted so much time in telling you this, also sorry that these things have to be said in a letter, but it's better than nothing. _

_I'm sorry for having to leave. If I had it my way we wouldn't have to be separate. But I have a grandma and sister who need to be cared for. My grandma isn't as young and mobile as she used to be, and I want to be there for her when she finally passes on. Aryll will need care during the times that my grandma can't give it. I'm sorry if I didn't make my reasons clear to you before all of this. _

_I will miss you. You're my best friend and it breaks my heart to not be able to see you anymore. I will never forget what you've done, for me and for Hyrule. _

_I have wanted to say this for the longest time. I'm also the most sorry for not telling you sooner and sorry if you don't feel the same way. I have felt stronger feelings than friendship for you for a long time. I didn't have the courage to tell you. I know that this comes at probably the worst time to tell you, but I just wanted you to know, whatever happens. _

_Anyway Tetra, I hope that you're successful with every venture and that you find the happiness that you've been searching for. I will never forget you. I hope the same goes for you to me. _

_With all my heart,_

_Link_

Tetra had to reread the letter several times over to actually believe the words said what they did. He felt the same way about her as she felt for him. She couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe her luck…it was the best, along with the worst.

She did the first thing that she could think of. She jumped out of her chair, ran out of her room, climbed the stair up to the deck, and shouted a single order that could be heard throughout the entire ship.

"Turn this ship around!"

Half the expressions looking at her were that of puzzlement, the other half we're of surprise at the sudden outburst from the recently hermit-like captain. A single second of no movement snapped by and then there was a flurry of people running about, shouting things and taking care of the ships new destination.

A crew member ran up to her and asked, "Miss Tetra, why are we going back?"

"I forgot something…" Tetra whispered, almost inaudibly, as she walked to the side of the ship and watched as the island got bigger and bigger on the horizon.

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"So where have you been?" Aryll asked Link as they sat down at the table. She looked at him with fascination as if he were one of the goddesses in the flesh.

"Yes, whatever happened to that girlfriend of yours?" Link's grandma asked innocently, stirring up the soup that she was making for all of them. Link laughed awkwardly at her question.

"Uh…we were never a couple, grandma. But, uh, she is with her crew now. Hopefully off doing was she wants." Link said with a solemn voice. Aryll noticed this and was about to ask him about it until the door to their house suddenly flew open and Orca was standing there breathing hard.

"Link," Orca panted, "The pirates…they've returned." Link looked at him with a grimace of confusion.

"What?" Link asked, not sure he heard the old man correctly. But Orca didn't answer; he just beckoned Link with his hand in a quickening manner. Link rose from his chair at the table and went outside. He immediately saw the giant pirate ship, once again docked on Outset Island's shores.

Without thinking he ran towards the dock. As he ran he saw a small figure coming off the ship and run down the dock in the opposite direction, towards him. He jumped onto the dock and stopped in his tracks. He recognized the person. It was Tetra. She had come back.

He stood there as she ran closer and closer, expecting her to stop in front of him. But instead, she jumped on top of him, pushing him down to the ground. He was pinned under her, and when he opened his eyes and looked at her he saw that her eyes were filled with a look he had never seen them have before. It was softness, affection, and desire.

Without a word between them, Tetra brought her lips crashing onto his. Link went numb with pleasure from feeling her kiss him. She felt the same way about him. He couldn't begin to describe how happy he was.

After several moments, but what didn't seem to be long enough, they broke apart. Tetra looked down at him with her trademark smirk. She winked at him.

"You're not going anywhere." She whispered to him. And they kissed again. And Link knew that he would never have to worry about their separation again.

The End


End file.
